Forest minister wants probe into guides death

The death of the guide leading the forest team to catch the Faizabad maneater,which has been on the run for nearly a month now,has invited the ire of Forest Minister Fateh Bahadur Singh.

On Friday,Singh,who is currently visiting his constituency in Gorakhpur,said he will order a probe into the incident and if any official is found guilty,they will be punished severely. The Forest Department team,meanwhile,remained untraceable as they refused to answer the calls made by the department officials.

Speaking to The Indian Express,Singh said he would ensure that guide Raghu Rajs family gets a compensation of Rs 50,000 from the department and also some aid from the chief ministers fund.

Such incident surely indicates the lackadaisical attitude of the officials. I will order a probe into the matter and if any of the officials are found guilty,strict action will be taken,no matter what post they hold, said Singh.

The department has already been asked to prepare a chargesheet against the Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) of the areas the tiger has passed through and has asked them to specify the reasons behind the delay in catching the tiger,said Singh.

We have all the experts from our department on the job. But so far,no results have been seen and a poor man who was helping us has also lost his life, he added.

On Wednesday late evening,the big cat had attacked Raj. According to eyewitness accounts,while the entire team,which includes research officer AN Singh,who is said to have killed 18 tigers,DFO OP Singh,Chief Conservator of Forest Mahendra Singh and other experts,was on the elephant,Raj was leading them on foot. After hearing the tiger roar,the officials fled the spot,leaving Raj alone.

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